One Week With You
by queenybee
Summary: AU: What if Rick and Lisa were not resuced immediately by the SDF-1 after the destruction of Alaska Base. Another fluffy short story.
1. Chapter 1

Day 1

Rick could feel Lisa trembling every time there was another blast. Her small hands would clutch and unclutch his fight suit as another explosion went off and she hid her face as best she could, turned towards him, to keep from seeing the dizzying pace that Rick was flying to outpace the destruction of Alaska Base. The canopy to the Skull 1 had already been destroyed by an electrical blast and Rick, adreneline pumping, deftly manoevered his fighter to keep him and Lisa safe as best he could.

As Rick flew out of the mouth of the Grand Cannon, he knew without a doubt that had been some of his best flying ever, even though there were no aeriel stunts involved. He could feel Lisa shift her weight in response to his legs movement in controlling the Veritech and could tell that she was trying to weigh as little as possible and inwardly he laughed, he had taken no notice of the extra weight during that last 10 minutes of flying.

Knowing that they weren't yet safe from the coming explosion from the cannon, Rick pushed his fighter east, to try and get as for away from the site as possible. It didn't take long for them to clear the potential blast zone and with the Skull 1 on its last energy reserves, Rick brought the fighter to a halt. He couldn't believe the destruction that faced him, the ground bare and pockmarked by the Zentraedi assault on the Earth.

Lisa relieved that they had finally stopped, stood up as best she could and sitting at the edge of the cockpit, she pulled off the helmet that Rick had put on her to keep her safe from the flight out of the Cannon. It had definitely saved her life, especially when the canopy blew, and she turned to check to make sure that Rick suffered no such injuries. Satisfied that there were no external injuries she could see on him, she ran her hands through her hair as the winds blew it around.

Lisa sighed, "Thank you Rick for saving me back there, I was sure there was no one left but I had to keep trying."

"Anytime Lisa, you know I love to save a damsel in distress. Do you think we're the only ones left?" he asked.

"I hope not, it would be pretty sad, if we were the last two on Earth," she replied gravely, noting the destruction all around them.

"Well at least we wouldn't be alone," said Rick with a softer tone. "Do you think the SDF-1 made it?"

"I don't know Rick, you were the only one I could raise, I hope that they're all right. Maybe you can see if you can raise them on the radio."

Rick fiddled with the controls on the fighter and tried to to contact the SDF-1. Unfortunately, all he got was static. Finally Rick said, "It's no use, there is something wrong with the radio, I'll need to fix it and then try again. It might take a day or two to fix. In the meantime, we should find somewhere to camp."

Bringing up map of the area prior to the destruction, it was Lisa who pointed out a potential camp area 100 miles to the south. "I've been there before, camping with father when I was younger, lots of trees and a small lake, it might be a good place to check out, let's just hope that it didn't take as much damage as this area did. Will the Skull-1 make it there?"

Rick, checking the fighter's power reserves, answered in the affirmative but mentioned that they woukd need to take it slow. The two resumed their previous positions with Lisa sitting on Rick's lap. He could tell that she was a bit uncomfortable with the position, as she blushed slightly when she tried to figure where to place her hands and Rick just thrust the fighter forward causing her to grab onto him, as she did through the escape from the Grand Cannon.

Settling into the ride, she placed her hand over his on the thruster and her other around his neck. Rick didn't know why but he didn't mind, but realized how nice it felt to have Lisa sitting on his lap.

It didn't take them long to reach the area that they had targeted and was pleased to see that the wooded area they selected, was still standing, there were enough trees to could provide them some cover, a small stream and fresh water lake that still had some water in it.

"It's a good thing we got here, this baby needs to rest, " said Rick patting Skull-1 on the nose, "there is still some daylight left, I'm going to get started to trying to fix the radio."

Lisa nodded her head, "I'll take a look through the emergency supplies and see what we have." It was standard for each Veritech to carry at least two weeks of rations for a single person, medical kit and a few extras, but it was a particular something in the medical kit that Lisa knew she had to get to as soon as possible.

While it seemed to Rick that Lisa had been sitting back quietly and enjoying the ride, her mind was actually working the whole time. She had been aware since Rick's rescue of her at Alaska Base that they had both been exposed to some levels of radiation. It was one of the reasons she had tried not to have him attempt a rescue. The radiation guage in the Veritech had not been something that Rick had been looking at when he had been flying, but Lisa had kept her eye on it and the levels it was reporting worried her as they had flown through that hell.

She understood that her exposure had been much higher as the base started to fall apart before her rescue, Rick had been fairly protected from it, until the canopy to the fighter was destroyed, exposing them both to increased levels of radiation.

Lisa knew that if she didn't get to the anti radiation pills as soon as possible, both her and Rick could get seriously ill without medical treatment. Not wanting to worry Rick, especially after all he had done to risk saving her, Lisa opened the supplies hatch under the Veritech and found the medical kit. Each kit contained the same supplies including the pills she was looking for, however, she realized that there weren't enough for the both of them. A treatment consisted of five pills, to be taken once a day. In the bottle she found, it only contained seven pills. The two other pills were extras, in case a pill or two was lost.

Thinking fast, Lisa pulled from her jacket pocket a pill box that she kept a few vitamins in, she placed one of the anti radiation pills in her pill box, and quickly took the other one, knowing that the first dose was the most effective taken immediately after exposure. Hoping it wasn't too late for her and knowing that Rick would be okay if he received a full treatment, she grabbed the other pills and took them to where Rick was starting to dismantle the radio.

"Here Rick, you need to take one of these, I don't know how much radiation we may have been exposed to, but you know, better safe than sorry." Lisa smiled and gave one the pills to Rick and a small bottle of water.

"Oh yeah, good idea, I didn't even think of that. What about you?"

"I've taken one too and the remainder I have in my pill box, here, these are for you." Lisa handed over to Rick a waterproof pill box. " Keep them on you, you never know if you might be away from the plane. Also make sure you take one everyday."

Rick just grinned, "I'm glad you're here wth me Lisa, I don't know if I would have remembered these pills were even there, much less remember to take them."

"Well, that's why I am the Commander and don't you forget it. " Lisa said lightly, trying to keep the concern from her voice. "I'm going to finish sorting out the supplies and see if the water here is still good too."

Lisa quickly sorted through the supplies and knew that if they are careful they could last five days, maybe more if they were lucky to find additional supplies. She hoped that there was still fish in the stream and the lake that they may be able to catch as well to suppliment their small food supply. Not being able to count on the SDF-1 surviving, she would suggest to Rick that they camp where they were for a day or two, and if he could not raise the SDF-1 then they would need to move on in search of other survivors and supplies.

The winds picked up and Lisa shivered, finally realizing that her white officer's uniform was insufficient to keep her warm in the cold Alaska spring. Digging through Rick's supplies, she was pleased to find another flight suit and a maintainence outfit. Feeling that the flight suit would be better protection from the weather and the terrain, she went to ask Rick if she could make use of the additonal flight suit.

Lisa found Rick sitting on the ground with a small tarp laid out holding the radio parts. He didn't even look up as she approached and seeing him concentrating so hard, she sat next to him, with her legs folded underneath her, until he was free and waited for him to acknowledge her. Rick noticed Lisa as she sat next to him and was grateful that she didn't distract him or ask questions about what he had been doing. He had been dealing with a fragile and delicate piece of the radio and it would have been bad if anything had happened to it. Putting the final pieces together, Rick gave a satisfied, "There we go," and turned to Lisa. "Everything OK there Lisa?"

"Well under the circumstances, I suppose, we have enough food for seven days, ten if we are really careful. I'm going to head over to the stream and check if the water is drinkable and also collect any dead branches I can find for firewood. Um, but before I go, would it be OK, if I used your extra fight suit. It's colder than I thought out here and well, I don't think my uniform is going to cut it." Lisa indicated the jacket and skirt that she wore and motioned to the flight suit she carried in her hand and looked at Rick questioningly.

Rick briefly remembered the time that Minmei had borrowed his maintainence shirt for a change of clothing when they had been trapped on the SDF-1. The memory quickly faded as Rick found himself looking directly into Lisa's very green eyes. He had never noticed how pretty her eyes were and how there were flecks of gold and brown in her eyes. She smiled as he stammered, a "yes, of course, anything you need."

Her smile was genuine and for a minute there Rick thought she was going to lean in and kiss him, but Lisa just deftly got to her feet, "Thanks Rick, I'll be back in few." He watched as she ran off to the back of the ship and eyes following, he realized where he was sitting on the ground, he could still see her legs. His jaw dropped as he watched Lisa's white skirt hit the ground and wished the back of the plane didn't cover so much of her. Knowing he shouldn't be peeking, he watched as Lisa stepped into the flight suit and with a shake of his head to clear his thoughts, he returned to the task at hand.

Lisa had finished changing and made a few adjustments to the flight suit as it was much too large on her. She had kept her white shirt on underneath and removing a backpack strap from a field bag, she was able to fashion a belt for herself to keep it up and she tucked and rolled the pants to fit her slime frame. Satisfied, she stowed her skirt away, tying her hair back and grabbing one the guns that was there, she holstered it and went back to let Rick know when she was headed.

Rick almost laughed when he saw Lisa in her outfit. She didn't look bad in it but it made him realize how small she really was. Her no nonsense attitude at work and loud mouth made her seem bigger than she was, at least to him, but seeing her like this, with the poorly fitted flight suit and hair in a ponytail made him see her in different light. This wasn't the first time he had these revelations about Lisa and for the second time in his life, he hoped that he would get to know her better.

As she passed him on the way to the stream, he nodded to her and warned her,"Be careful out there, yell if you need me."

"Don't worry Hunter, I'm a big girl I can take care of myself,"indicting the gun she had holstered. Glad she thought to arm herself, he felt better as she made her way through the trees to the stream. She had been gone almost an hour when Rick getting worried decided to check on her. He made his way through the small copse of trees and could see a pile of dead wood that had been gathered but no sign of Lisa. With an increased concern, he started calling out her name and headed toward the stream. As he got closer to the edge of the stream, he found Lisa sitting on a flat rock with her knees drawn up and her face buried in her hands. He could see her shoulders shaking and panicked, "Lisa, are you OK, are you hurt? Answer me."

Rick rushed over to where she was and Lisa noticing Rick just wiped her tear stained face said, "I'm sorry Rick, I didn't mean to make you worry, I don't know what came over me.I just, all of a sudden couldn't deal with the magnitude of the death and destruction. Why me, Rick, why did I survive and why did all those other people not make it? It's not fair!"

Rick didn't know what to say, helping her up from the rock, he said, "I don't know Lisa, I felt the same when Roy died. He was the better pilot then me, why was it his time to go? You told me then, that the best thing I could do was to honor him by living my life to the fullest and I'm going to tell you the same thing. Don't let those deaths be in vain, make sure their sacrifice does not go unforgotten."

Lisa smiled as she wiped the tears from her face, "When did you get so smart Rick."

Happy to see her feeling better, Rick just shrugged and said, "I guess I'm just getting wiser as I've gotten older. C'mon it's getting dark soon and we need to finish setting up camp."

Rick and Lisa returned to camp carrying arms full of dead wood that Lisa collected. The water in the stream was still good to drink after it was purified and Lisa helped Rick form a tent with the parachute over the wing of the Skull-1 and listened as he retold her the story of the time him and Minmei was trapped on the SDF-1.

As dusk fell and it started to get colder, Lisa started a blazing fire to help keep them warm in the night. She also helped prepare the dehydrated food into a palatable meal, giving Rick a portion of her share. Rick protested but Lisa just told him her stomach was too tied up into knots to eat much and they couldn't keep the food for the next day.

As they lay in the small tent, both Lisa and Rick were silent, re-living the day in their heads, glad that they weren't alone. It didn't take long for them to fall into asleep, wondering what the future days were going to hold.

* * *

Author's Note:This is just another fluffy short story. Please take it as it is, especially in regards to the radiation illness. Please assume that medical advances are much better than what we have now, much like they have fighters that turn into giant robots. Thanks!


	2. Chapter 2

Day 2

Rick woke up in the tent alone and stretched his sore body. The bedrolls were hard to spend a whole night on and Rick wondered if he would have been better off sleeping in the Veritech. As tempting as it sounded Rick knew he couldn't leave Lisa alone like that. Her outburst at the stream yesterday had surprised him. Lisa always seem so calm, cool and collected most of the times, but he remembered a previous outburst of hers when they were trapped on the Zentraedi ship and her microrecorder had broke. Fearing she had failed in her mission, she had wanted to give up but he had convinced he that it was imperative that they get the information about the Zentraedi fleet back to the SDF-1 regardless of the data on the microrecorder. Rick hoped that this latest incident at Alaska Base didn't send her over the edge. He needed her if he was to survive, he was glad for her company, happy to have someone to share the burden with and deep down he knew that it wouldn't have been the same if it had been anyone but her. Rick left the tent, happy to find Lisa preparing some instant coffee for the two of them.

Lisa handed Rick a hot cup of steaming coffee. She was glad that he didn't feel anything was amiss. Lisa had awaken from her sleep, feeling nauseated. She quickly and quietly escaped the tent, ran out into the trees and proceeded to dry heave for about 10 minutes. She had felt a little queasy the night before but didn't know if it was due to the excitement from yesterday or if she was feeling the effects of the radiation exposure. Returning back to camp, she stirred up the embers to the fire that they had banked last night, heated up the water and hoped that the coffee would make her feel better.

After cleaning up after their meager breakfast, a protein bar each and the coffee, Rick watched Lisa creating a fishing fly from a few non essential bits and pieces that she found in his tool box. Lisa tied off the ends of the fly and look satisfied with the end result. Curious Rick asked, "Where did you learn to do that Lisa, doesn't seem like Iike something that they taught at the academy."

Lisa picked through a few more items in his box and started on another fly before answering, "No, you're right, it wasn't something I learned there. My father was actually the one that taught me, he took me camping a lot and on survival wilderness trips. He didn't want me to be unprepared in case something really bad happened. I always thought he was a bit over cautious, but I guess he was right."

Taking a deep breath, Lisa continued, opening up to Rick about her past, something she hadn't done in very long time. "My father didn't really know what to do with me after my mother died. He didn't really know what to do with a little girl so he raised me the best way he knew how. From the age of six to twelve, I almost forgot I was a girl. My hair was kept short and my weekends were spent, camping, fishing and learning to use weapons. I studied karate and learned about military tactics. It's not to say that girl shouldn't learn these things, but it made me very different from the other girls at school. I didn't have any close girl friends, I was more comfortable hanging out with the boys. At some point during my twelth year, my father somehow realized that I was growing up and wasn't going to stop being a girl. I had entered junior high and very ill equipped to deal with the girls there. All they talked about was boys and who was wearing what or who had a crush on someone else. The boys no longer wanted to hang out with me as it wasn't cool to be seen with a girl, especially one that didn't care that much about her hair or clothes and more worried about her grades than fitting in. I guess in a way, I'm still that girl sometimes, too serious, not enough fun, can't feign interest in what the other women are gossiping about."

Lisa finished off the second fly and looked up at Rick who had been sitting quietly listening to her talk. He was saddened to hear that Lisa grew up feeling out of place and awkward and he couldn't help but feel for that little girl. Lisa seeing that Rick was feeling sorry for her, finished her story on a lighter tone, "You know it's one of the reasons I keep my hair so long. I had it so short for so many years that once I was allowed to let it grow, I never wanted it to be cut. I guess that came in handy too. I pulled a few strands of it to use on these flies."

Standing up, she smiled at Rick, "You finish up with the radio and I'm going to take my chance at the lake, meet me there when you're done alright."

Rick nodded his head in agreement. He had wanted to hear more about Lisa's childhood but could tell that Lisa didn't want to reminisce too much on it. Her childhood sounded lonely compared to Rick's and he didn't like seeing the sad look on Lisa's face when she told him about it. "Sure Lisa, I'm almost done, I'll see you in a bit and then we will see if we can raise anyone."

Rick watched as Lisa disappered through the trees to the lake. He wasn't surprised that he wanted to talk to Lisa more. He had felt a connection with her when they had been trapped on the ship together during the modular transformation and remembered that he had wanted to ask her out to dinner before she had left for Earth but never got the chance.

Hurrying to finish installing the radio, Rick thought it would be nice to spend the afternoon fishing with Lisa.

* * *

Rick finished installing the radio and checked on the fighter's energy reserves. The emergency solar panels on the ship were working and was slowly charging the plane. In a few hours they would be able to try and contact the outside world and Rick hoped that there would be someone out there to respond.

He followed the path Lisa took to the lake and found her sitting under a tree with a line cast out. She put a finger to her lips and Rick nodded his head, he slowly and quietly padded down to where she was sitting and sat next to her waiting for a bite. Lisa made a side to side motion with her free hand indicting that there were fish still in the lake. It would be the only sign of wildlife that they would see if they could catch one.

Suddenly, one of the lines Lisa had put out pulled tight and with lightening fast reflexes, Lisa pulled out a fresh water trout. Rick helped her catch the wriggling fish and helped her as she strung the fish up and kept it alive in the lake until they were ready to leave. A couple hours later, they had three good sized trout, that they planned to roast over the open fire.

Heady with their success, they headed back to the Veritech with their catch, the sun starting to rise high in the sky. Rick insisted on cleaning and prepping the fish since Lisa had already done quite a lot that morning and the two enjoyed their fish for lunch, swapping camping and fishing stories. Lisa reminded Rick to take his pill and took hers as well hoping that it would be enough to prevent the worst of the illness.

Rick made a final check of the battery and the radio. "Well, this is it Lisa, are you ready for what we may or may not find out there?"

Lisa pondered his question for a moment. "Hmm, yes I am. I'd rather know than not know, at least then I can try and plan and make a decision based on what we find out."

Rick just responded in his normal cheeky fashion and said teasingly ,"Typical of you, Commander." All joking aside, Rick was worried about what was out there, or not out there. If the SDF-1 didn't survive, how long could him and Lisa last out there. It was something that he didn't want to contemplate quite yet.

Rick sat in the pilot's seat with Lisa sitting on the edge where the canopy had been. He started turning the dials searching for anything. All he received was static and more static and it was discouraging. Then they heard it, the disjointed voices over the radio. Excited and hopeful, Rick tried to respond back, "This is Lt. Commander Rick Hunter, Skull Leader, do you copy?"

The static was bad, but it seemed to Rick and Lisa that there was an acknowledgement coming from the voice on the radio frequency. Trying to improve on it, Rick continued to send out his message, when finally a clearer link was made.

"Skull Leader this is the SDF-1, do you copy?" said the voice, but still a bit disjointed. Lisa and Rick couldn't help but hug one another to hear someone from the SDF-1. Not wanting to lose the connection, Rick repeated his coordinates and requested help.

They were surprised when the TacNet beeped and Sammie appeared on the screen, looking tired but happy. "Lt. Commander Hunter, thank goodness you made it. We weren't sure what happened to you."

Rick responded back, "Thanks Sammie, it's good to know that the SDF-1 made it too. Is everyone all right?"

Sammie just shook her head looking sad, "No, we lost a lot of good people out there yesterday..and I don't know if you know, but we lost contact with Alaska Base too. We haven't heard anything from them and there was a large explosion from that area that registered even in space. We don't think anyone could have survived."

Understanding that Sammie was talking about Lisa, Rick realized that Sammie couldn't see Lisa on the side listening in, said gravely, "I know about Alaska Base Sammie, but I know of one person that did make it." Rick pulling on Lisa til she was sitting on his lap again and visble on the TacNet, heard Sammie cry out, "Oh my god everyone, Lisa made it!"

Claudia pushed Sammie out of the way to see with her own eyes and said with tears in her eyes, "We'll if it isn't the cat with nine lives, you must must have one hell of a guardian angel looking out for you."

Lisa touched the screen with her finger tips and said to Claudia, "Yes, I think I do."

Lisa was about to say more but then Sammie came back on speaking quickly, "OK we don't have much time to talk. There is too much debris up here for us to be able to get down to the surface safely and we're about to get hit with a solar flare. We estimate it's going to be three days til we can reach you, will that be a problem, do you have enough food and water?" Rick and Lisa nodded their heads, indicating that they could make it another five days. It was weird to see Sammie so serious and in control.

Sammie continued, "Stay at the coordinates that you we have you listed at. Communication may be difficult due to the solar flares and that many of our satellites have been knocked out or destroyed. We will try and contact you when we can and you can do the same in case of emergency. Understood?"

Rick and Lisa responded back affirmatively and with a few final goodbyes, communication was cut and it was just Lisa and Rick again.

* * *

There wasn't much for them to do while they waited for the SDF-1 to rescue them, Lisa puttered around the camp a bit and looked through some of the items that Rick had on the plane. She found a small notebook and flipped through it, finding it empty.

"Rick!," Lisa called out, "Can I use this little notebook?"

Not knowing what she was talking about, Rick came to the back of the plane where Lisa was, seeing the little green notebook she had in her hand and not recognizing it, Rick said, "Sure no problem, Lisa, you should record our time spent here, we can use it when we are famous and write our memoirs."

Lisa laughed at his joke and pocketed the little notebook, she had a little pen in her jacket pocket she could use that she carried with her. Taking the little notebook and settling on the tarp near their tent, Lisa started writing.

That night under the campfire, Lisa and Rick laid back to observe the night sky. Space debris from the fight in space was falling and burning up in the Earth's atmosphere, putting on a display never seen before on Earth and even though it was beautiful and fascinating to watch, neither of them forgot the sacrifices of their fellow man that led to this.


	3. Chapter 3

Day 3

Rick watched as Lisa scribbled something in her little notebook and then pocketed it in her jacket. He wondered what she could be writing about, it was pretty boring out there waiting for the SDF-1 to send someone to rescue them. Rick finished the work he was doing on his Veritech and closed the maintenace hatch. There wasn't much more he could do without the proper tools to get the fighter running in proper condition. Cleaning his hands on a rag, Rick readied as best he could and headed over to where Lisa had setup lunch.

He watched as Lisa set out the plates and cups on the tarp for their mid day meal. He could swear she thought they were at a fancy cafe instead of the middle of nowhere. Lisa had offered to take care of the food for lunch and prepared a mix of the dehydrated food and the MREs. Teasing her about her unexpected domesticity, Lisa just simply said that it kept her mind off other things and she didn't mind the chore.

As they sat down to the meal, Lisa reminded Rick to take his anti radiation pill. Rick fished the small pill box out of his flight suit pocket, opened it and took the yellow pill. He assumed Lisa had taken her already since she was so conscientious about making sure he took his own pill. He frowned at the amount of food that Lisa had put on his place compared to hers.

"Lisa, you don't need to give me this much. You need to eat too. We have plenty of food for the next two days you don't need to ration so much." He tried to move forward and give some of the food to Lisa but she pulled her plate protectively nearer to her and said with a blush, "To tell you the truth, I don't do "well" with the MREs, call it an embarrassment but I'd rather limit my intake."

It wasn't the first time that Rick had heard about this problem and suggested that she take more of the dehydrated portion of food that was on his plate.

Lisa finding that the focus of her food intake could lead to other problems just said, "If you must know, I'd much rather have your piece of chocolate, if you wouldn't mind."

"Really Lisa, I never would have taken you for a sweets eater, you obviously take care of your figure." Rick realizing what he just said, was embarrassed and tried to cover up his mistake. "Uh, its just that I've never seen you eat any of the desserts in the mess hall." Realizing that he made things worse by sounding like a total stalker, he shoved a bit of food in his mount and started chewing. Swallowing his food he said, "This is really good Lisa. Thanks again for making lunch."

Lisa took a bite of her own food and after a while asked again, "Well, can I have your chocolate than?... I've come to a realization that life is too short to deprive myself of all of life's pleasures and its been a while since I've had any chocolate at all and I don't want to wait til we are back on the SDF-1 to get it."

Rick feeling like he understood what Lisa was saying and not a big sweets eater himself, felt no qualms about letting her have his chocolate. He watched at the end of the meal as she ate her own chocolate slowly, savoring the flavor. She decided to keep the other piece, "for when she really needed it." Rick mentally noted that when they got back to the SDF-1 that he was going to find her the best chocolate he could to thank her for all that she had done.

* * *

That night as they sat under the stars again watching the debris burn up in the night sky as it hurtled toward Earth, the two spoke about their families, finding that they had much more in common than they thought. Lisa's mother passed away when she was five from a strain of the flu that turned into pneumonia and Rick's mom had passed when he was eight years old of cancer. Rick had coped by escaping into the the world of the flying circus, becoming a amateur aeriel champion at 13. Flying was all he ever dreamed of since he was young and his mom's death, as sad as it was, no longer kept him tied to one place but forced him to travel on the road with his dad, whom he spoke of fondly.

Rick regaled Lisa of stories of the flying circus and the places that they had been. He hadn't shared many of these stories since his dad passed in circus accident when he was 17, effectively leaving Rick alone in the world except for Roy. Rick had never even told these stories to Minmei, but there was something about Lisa's attentiveness, laughs and questions that made him feel that she really cared about what he was telling her and the importance of these stories to him. Realizing that he had been talking for over two hours about himself, he asked Lisa about her father, which made her sigh heavily.

"I wish I could tell you stories like the ones you shared with me Rick, but my relationship with my father was never that easy. I told you about being brought up as though I was a boy until I was twelve and then for the next few years things started to get better. It wasn't until I met Karl Riber, that things between my father and I became tense and difficult. I hadn't always planned to join the RDF, in fact I wasn't sure what I was going to do with my life at all. It took me a lot longer than you to figure out what I wanted to do and it was only because of Karl's death that I am where I am today.

Anyway, my father was pleased as punch to find out I had been accepted to the Academy and thought I was following in his footsteps, but when he found out that my goal was to get transferred to Mars Base Sara as soon as I could to be with Karl, he did everything he could to stop it."

Rick didn't say it but secretly he agree with the Admiral's decision, he too had learned to dislike Lisa's ex-finace. Lisa didn't know but Roy had told him about Lisa's long ago love and Lisa even mentioned it herself when she spoke of her interest in Kyle but Rick couldn't stand the guy even if he was dead. He remembered how Lisa had been willing to give up her life at Mars Base and finding out now her whole goal in joining the military was to follow this guy to Mars, was just not the Lisa he knew.

Lisa continued, "Even after Karl died, it didn't get better. With my top scores, I should have been offered a number of assignments but Captain Global was the only one brave enough to risk my father's disapproval. The admiral never wanted me on the SDF-1 and I knew when I returned alone this time to Earth, that my father would keep me reassigned to Alaska Base. I hope you understand Rick, I didn't want to go back, but I was the only one that had a chance of getting the council to listen me about the Zentraedi. I tried to come back to the SDF-1 though."

Rick was amazed to hear that, as he also would have assumed the safest place for survival would have been on Earth but here was Lisa saying that she tried to get sent back to a ship that was essentially doomed.

"He refused my request Rick, he threatened to throw me in the brig if I tried to leave on my own. Could you believe that? So much for the Hayes family motto: Service, Duty and Sacrifice."

Lisa broke down crying at that point and Rick leaned over to hug her. She cried hard for a few minutes and wiped her eyes and nose with the tissue Rick passed to her, she took some deep calming breaths and said, "in the end, though, he tried to tell me I was right and that I had to get out. He tried to tell me that he loved me, but there was terrible explosion and all communication was lost at that point. As much as we had our disagreements, I hope his death was quick and painless."

There wasn't much to say after that. Rick kept his arm around Lisa and she leaned her head on his shoulder, happy to have Rick's shoulder to cry on.

* * *

Day 4

Lisa woke again feeling nauseous. Without waking Rick she slipped out of the tent again and down to the river where the sound of the streaming water could mask the flow of any noises she made. She retched into the water again, watching as the evidence of her illness flowed downstream into the lake. Lisa knew this wasn't the only indication oh her illness, she could tell from the water that she passed that she was seriously sick. Luckily inactivity seemed to help keep the sickess from spreading too quickly through her body. She wondered how long she could keep it from Rick and hoped that they would be able to help her once she reached the SDF-1. Cupping the water in her hands to rinse her mouth out, Lisa didn't hear Rick approach.

"Ugh, why do you get up so early?" Yawning, Rick joined her at the water's edge. She wondered if he had seen anything but as he made no mention of it, she assumed that nothing was amiss to him.

"I know, it's a bad habit I need to break. It's been a long time since I've just been lazy, maybe I need to indulge in that too. Since we have another day before the SDF-1 is picking us up, why don't we just spend the day doing nothing." Lisa looked at Rick with a small smile on her face.

"Whoa, whoa, who is this Lisa and what have you done with Commander Hayes," Rick joked," first indulging in chocolate, now planning to lay around all day? Sounds like a plan to me."

They laughed but it actually wasn't hard to stay in the tent that day, the day was colder than normal, and the winds were fierce driving the temperature down further. With a hot pot of coffee in the tent, the two talked about their favorite movies and favorite books. Lisa was surprised to find that Rick was very well read. Rick explained, "there was a lot of down time between events and being on the road all the time other wasn't much to do and well, there were always libraries in every town or city we went to."

He laughed to find that Lisa secretly loved romance novels and she threatened to find a way to ground him from flying if he ever told anyone else. They both loved sci-fi and fantsy movies and TV shows, they argued about which Star Trek series was the best, Deep Space Nine vs. Voyager and recalling their favorite Dr. Who episodes and Doctor.

Rick was surprised to find that Lisa catnapped at times during lulls in their discussion and finally figured that after all she had been through the last eighteen months of so, she deserved to take a nap if she wanted.

During one of their breaks where they stretched their legs outside, Lisa suggested that they contact the SDF-1 regarding the pick up plan.

After unsuccessfully reaching the SDF-1, they finally made contact with Claudia who was manning the communications network. "Thank goodness you two contacted us, we are about to experience another solar flare and won't be able to pick you up for another couple of days. I'm sure if you haven't already, you two can find something to do hmmm?"

Rick ignoring Claudia's innuendo replied, "Another few days shouldn't hurt us, huh Lisa?" Rick turned to Lisa and thought he saw a sense of panic on her face but Lisa just responded, "Another few days should be fine, we have enough supplies."

Coordinating the pick up plan, Claudia mentioned that there were other survivors on Earth. Lisa looked hopeful at the news and asked,"Anything from Alaska Base?"

Claudia just shook her head negatively and was about to sign off when Lisa asked her to hold on. "Rick do you mind if I speak with Claudia alone for a second? I'll only be a minute."

Rick just nodded and hopped out of the cockpit, leaving Lisa and Claudia alone.

Sensing that Lisa wanted to talk about Rick and her feelings for him, Claudia switched to a private line and said, "we don't have much time, things with you and Hunter seem to be going well, you need some advice on how to move it along?"

"No, it's nothing like that Claudia, I, well, just wanted to say thank you. I haven't always been the easiest person to get along with you you've truly been a wonderful friend.I just wanted to tell you how much I've missed you" Lisa smiled and wiped a tear that fell from her eye.

Concerned, Claudia wondered what was wrong with her friend, "Lisa, honey, what's wrong, you'll be back in a few days, whatever's bothering you, we can talk about it then. Listen the comm's about to cut out, so I only have one other thing to say to you. Go get your man."

Lisa just smiled and nodded as the communication ended and sat there along for a few minutes to collect her thoughts before returning to the tent. She didn't think her body could handle another three days and was glad that she had put her thoughts down of her final days in the little notebook she carried.

Rick noticed that Lisa was a little down that night night and wondered if the delay in the rescue upset her. He didn't want to ask and the concern slipped from his mind when Lisa asked him to tell her about about the courtship of Max and Miriya and their subsequent wedding.


	4. Chapter 4

Day 5

Rick and Lisa woke to hear rain pummeling their tent. Even partially sheltered under the Veritech wing , it didn't quite keep the rain from reaching the tent. Luckily, the canvas was rainproof and the inside dry. Neither ventured out of the tent unless they absolutely had to and Lisa was happy for the forced inactivity. Being quiet and still seemed to help her condition. After another breakfast of rations and coffee, Rick asked Lisa about her days at the Academy. Lisa gladly regaled Rick of some of her early follies as a cadet, even with her impressive military background.

"I was a different person when I joined than when I left Rick. When I started, I had so much to look forward too. It was a chance for me to become me. I had finally overcome the difficulties of my early teenage years and yes, even though sixteen seems so young, I was already engaged to Karl and had a plan mapped out for myself. I threw myself into my studies, determined to get to Mars Base as soon as I possibly could. I could out shoot, out run and out fly my peers and was in my final year when we received the word about Mars Base. I couldn't believe that Karl was gone, he was making plans to return so we could get married and so I could join him on Mars as his wife. My father still was opposed to our relationship, but I didn't care, I just wanted to be with him. It wasn't until you saved me from the base that I finally let Karl go. It was difficult, but I guess I finally realized he wasn't coming back." Lisa paused in her story, "I never thanked you properly for that rescue, I was still too mad at you for calling me an ole sourpuss, but I guess you were right. Forgive me?"

Rick didn't know what to say, the incident had happened so long ago and so many other things had happened since. "Or course Lisa, don't even think about it anymore. I think we both know we started off on the wrong foot, but I think we've come a long ways since then, wouldn't you agree."

Lisa just nooded her head in agreement. "Enough about me though, what about you and Miss Minmei? Are you two still close?"

Rick just laid back and plopped his head back on his bedroll. To tell the truth, he hadn't thought about Minmei in days. Their last encounter was less than satisfactory. He knew it couldn't work between them not only because of her star status but her inability to deal with the realities of what was happening. She had been fettered and coddled by those all around her including that idiot cousin of hers Kyle. This was going to be a whole new tough world to survive in and Rick knew she would be content to stay in her bubble and keep her status as best she could. Even though he knew that Minmei cared for him, he didn't know if it would be the type of love that endured over time.

Lisa sensing that Rick didn't want to talk about his relationship with the star, said quietly, "I'm sorry Rick, I didn't mean to bring up anything painful for you."

Rick turned on his bedroll to face Lisa, "It's not that Lisa, it doesn't hurt to talk about it. I saw her before the last battle, I told her that I would always love her and I kissed her goodbye, but honestly, I didn't think any of us would survive. Now that we have, I have no idea what's going to happen next, heck I don't even know if she feels anything for me. Am I just a friend or do I really mean more to her than that? It's all very confusing and you women should come equipped with a manual."

Lisa burst out laughing at Rick's rant. She had felt a little hurt that he admitted that he loved Minmei but it's not like she hadn't know what his feelings were. Seeing him confused, frustrated and annoyed at the situation and wanting a user guide to understand the working of the female mind and heart was so typically male.

Rick glared at her and Lisa just stifled her laugh and said, "what would be the first advice you would put in the manual Rick?"

Understanding now that Lisa wasn't laughing at his dilemma with Minmei but more about the guide book, Rick just nonchalantly said, "Ohh I don't know, how about "Be careful on who you call an old sourpuss, she may be your commanding officer" or "Women don't like to have their asses grabbed in public, even if it was an accident."

Rick and Lisa laughed some more and Rick came up with some other ones that he felt were appropriate, like, "If a woman is in love with her cousin, stay away from her" and "Being told you're a good friend really means you have no chance."

Lisa decided to throw in a few that would come in handy for a man's user manual and even though the time passed slowly they both felt they couldn't be in any better company.

* * *

Rick awoke to a noise in the tent, turning the overhead light on low, he could hear Lisa's teeth chattering and he could see her curled in her bedroll trying to keep warm. It was a little colder than it had been the last couple of nights but shouldn't have been cold enough to cause this reaction in her, worried that she was catching a cold, Rick quietly called out, "You okay?"

Lisa just nodded her head, "I'll be okay in a few, it was colder outside than I thought."

Figuring that Lisa had needed to take care of personal business, he turned off the light and tried to fall back asleep. The reality was that Lisa had been gone for over forty five minutes in the cold and in her weakened condition it was difficult for her body to warm itself up. Rick tried to fall asleep but he could still hear her shivering and became more alarmed. "Lisa, is there anything I can do to help?"

Her voice muffled by her bedding just said, "I'll be fine Rick, unless you have a toasty heater handy."

Lisa could hear Rick shuffling around in the tent and was soon surprised to see him kneeling next to her with his blanket. "Move over, neither of us are going to get to sleep with you making all that noise." Lisa protested, but Rick not having any of that just pushed his bedroll next to hers, opened up her blanket and slipped in next to her, while placing the other blanket over them. He pulled Lisa onto his chest and winced as she accepted his help and placed her cold hands on his stomach. Even through the clothing he wore, he could feel the cold eminating from her.

"Don't get any funny ideas Mister," Lisa jokingly warned but in reality she was grateful for his insistence to share his body heat. It didn't take long for Lisa to warm up and fall asleep, leaving Rick alone with his very uncomfortable thoughts. With one arm around her and Lisa sleeping so peacefully with her head on his chest, it just felt so right to have her in his arms. Rick couldn't deny that he had feelings for Lisa, feelings that had grown over the last couple of days. He recalled the sadness he felt when he saw Alaska Base destroyed, knowing she probably hadn't survived and then that wonderful feeling when Lisa ran into his arms after his rescue. He had wanted to hold her and hug her so much more but their joyful reunion was cut short in their bid to escape the base before it exploded.

It took Rick awhile to relax enough to fall asleep but definitely knew that by far it was one of the best nights of all.

* * *

Day 6

Then rain had stopped but the day was still colder than others. Lisa lay in her bedroll, writing furiously in her little notebook and Rick itched it snatch it from her and read what she had been working on. When he asked her about it, Lisa just said that she wanted to make sure that she remembered all the things that she had thought of in the last couple of days before she forgot them when they returned to the ship.

When Rick interrupted her again, she closed the little notebook and put it under her pillow. "Honestly, Rick, I never thought there would be be a day that you would be begging for my company, "she said teasingly.

"Well, when you're not writing, you're sleeping, what's wrong with you?" Rick was annoyed, all day Lisa had spent writing in that little notebook, he wish he never let her have the damn thing. If she wasn't writing she was napping, like an old woman, in her rocking chair. He suspected that Lisa was getting a bit sick, but knew that she wouldn't like him to point out her weakness. She looked pale to him, paler than usual, but other than the shivering last night, she didn't sneeze or sound congested, just maybe tired.

Lisa stretched her arms above her head, it hurt, but she masked the pain and said, "Oh nothing, it's just that we don't have much time before we have to go back, and there won't be time to sleep, I'm just trying to take advantage of it now and get in as much sleep as possible."

Lisa knew the truth though, she wasn't going to make it back to the SDF-1. There was blood in her urine, she was very weak and couldn't keep anything down, even water. She used lip balm to keep her lips from getting too dry but honestly it was sheer stubbornness on her part that was keeping her going. She didn't want to leave Rick alone but every movement was painful. She never thought she was that good of an actress but was able to hide enough to keep Rick from guessing that she was suffering from more than a mere cold.

That night Rick didn't even ask, he just lay next to Lisa to keep her warm and was rewarded when she slipped her hand into his and gave it a squeeze.

* * *

Day 7

Lisa was gone from the tent when Rick woke up. It was mid morning and the sun was shining brightly. Recalling that today was the day the SDF-1 was going to try and send down a shuttle for them, Rick went outside to find Lisa. Not finding her immediately outside, he figured that she must have gone down to the stream to freshen up. He cleared the fire pit and filled it with new kindling and wood that they had kept dry under the plane. He soon had a blaze going and put the water to boil for some coffee.

While waiting for the water to boil and for Lisa to return, he jumped into the cockpit of the Skull and turned on the radio in attempt to contact the SDF-1. He was pleased when Sammie responded and after chatting for a few minutes, she confirmed that a shuttle had been launched and should arrive in an hour or two. Excited and eager to tell Lisa the good news, he jumped down from the cockpit and was about to head to the stream when the water started to boil. Feeling that a cup of coffee would make the day better, Rick hurried to get the coffee ready and prepare something to eat.

He was about to go get Lisa when she returned from the stream, even though the day was warmer, she wore her jacket over her fight suit. She still looked pale, but he could tell that she had washed her face and rebraided her hair. She walked back slowly almost in a daze and seeing Rick at the firepit, she walked over to where he was and sat on the tarp he had laid out.

"Good news Lisa, Sammie said the shuttle should be here by noon! I can't wait, I can't believe that l'm saying this but I'm excited to eat some real food again, even if it's from the mess hall. What about you, what do you want to eat when you get back?" Rick's excitement was palpable and Lisa couldn't help but feel a sense of happiness. She smiled and just said, "maybe some chocolate?"

Rick just laughed and looked up at her, "I remember you said that." His smile turned into a frown, in the light of he day, Rick could see that Lisa was too pale, too listless. He wondered how he had missed her deterioration, he could swear she didn't look this way three days ago. Concerned, "Hey Lisa, you don't look so good. Why don't you just rest here a bit until the shuttle comes. I can take care of the cleaning up, you really look like you need to rest."

Lisa just murmured her thanks, and said, "you're right, some rest may do me good."

Rick brought out her bedroll and the blankets and put them near the fire and helped her to lay down. He watched as she lay there unmoving and wondered what could have made her so sick. He just wished the shuttle would hurry so Lisa could get checked out by the doctors on the ship. Rick packed and stowed away the gear and felt Lisa's eyes on him as he moved around the small camp. He was wondering what she was thinking. He wouldn't have been pleased if he had known.

Lisa was tired. Her body weary, she felt she aged sixty years in the last week. She hadn't wanted to give up, but she could fight no more and knew that in a little time she would be gone from this world. She knew that she wouldn't have traded the last week with Rick for anything and hoped that he wouldn't forget her too soon. Knowing she didn't have much time left, Lisa used the last of her strength to pull herself up and out of the bedroll.

Slipping her hand into her jacket pocket she pulled out the piece of chocolate that Rick had let her have a few nights ago. Unwrapping the foil from the chocolate, Lisa slid the chocolate into her dry mouth. The flavor danced on her tongue and she let it melt in her mouth. Rick was making some last minute checks of the camp when he felt Lisa behind him. He turned and caught her as she fell forward.

"Lisa, you shouldn't get up, they will be here soon." Worried he tried to take her back to the camp, but she just shook her head.

"No, not enough time Rick." Lisa held onto Rick's arms for support and looked up into his beautiful blue eyes, seeing the concern in his eyes. Rick tried to protest again but Lisa just grabbed his arms tighter. "Listen to me, please just let me say this." She waited until Rick nodded his head in agreement and she said, "Thank you Rick for everything, " Lisa used whatever energy she had left and hugged Rick as hard as she could. She felt his arms go around her body and he pulled her to his chest. Feeling his heart beating so sure and strong, Lisa took a second to enjoy it and then reached up and kissed Rick on the lips, trying to convey all her feelings for him in that simple touch.

Rick was stunned, he didn't expect Lisa to kiss him. She tasted like chocolate and his heart swelled to think that Lisa might have feelings for him as well. Rick kissed her back and was about to deepen the kiss when he felt her lips tear away from his and he held onto her as she collapsed in his arms.


	5. Chapter 5

Rick flipped through the little green notebook in his hand. He was never without it and was often seen sitting alone in the observation lounge reading from it. Picking a page seemingly at random, Rick read the words that were written neatly in it. The pages were filled from top to bottom, the tiny words written were evenly spaced and chosen with care to maximize space.

_Rick, I hope that you can someday forgive me. I go peacefully, accepting my fate, knowing I gave it my best. The hardest part is leaving you, I've come to admire you very much and want you to know that you will eternally have my love._

He flipped to another page, this time with advice for him.

_Rick, if you truly love her, let her know and fight for her. I wish I had been strong enough to follow my own advice. Go get her flyboy!_

Not all the messages and passages written in there were for Rick, but he wasn't ready to share his treasure with anyone else. There were letters written to Admiral Global, Claudia, Sammie, Vanessa and Kim. Those pages were folded lengthwise against the page binding and each had the recipient's name on it. Rick didn't open those, although he was sorely tempted to see what she had said to her crew mates. He knew he had no right to hold onto those pages but was unwilling to pull those pages from the notebook. There was even a message for Minmei in the notebook that said, _Miss Minmei, Your singing is an inspiration to us all but if you hurt him, I will haunt you from the beyond. Ha ha ha!_

Rick had to laugh at that one, Lisa had kept her wit and sense of humor when writing these notes. Not all of the pages contained notes or messages. Some were confessions and stories from Lisa's life and Rick wished that he learned about how amazing Lisa was earlier instead of wasting so much time pining over Minmei. He was surprised by some of the thoughts that she had put down, never imagining that someone so seemingly put together, still had so many doubts.

_I wonder whether or not I would have been content being a wife so young. Karl was handsome, so idealistic and very charasmatic, I couldn't believe that someone like him wanted someone like me and I took the love that he offered as a lifeline, but would I have become the woman I am today? I'm proud of my accomplishments and can hold my head up high knowing that I did what I could to protect and preserve the peace whenever possible._

_I don't know why I couldn't tell you how I felt. Maybe because of how we started off, maybe because I was concerned about our difference in rank and our age difference, but I think I look good for an old sourpuss. I wish I had said something to you to let you know how much I cared._

_The night Roy died, I didn't know how I could face you. I remember telling you not to let his death, his sacrifice be in vain. I'm telling you the same thing now, don't let my passing be in vain. I hope you continue to fight for peace with the Zentraedi even though we have lost so much, you know it's the right thing to do._

_I always wanted a dog, but we moved around so much that my dad felt that it wouldn't be fair to the animal. I still want a dog and the crazy thing is, I want a small fluffy white dog. I know it doesn't sound like me, but it would make me incredibly happy._

Closing the notebook softly with one hand, Rick bowed his head and thought back to that day. After Lisa had collapsed, Rick had tried to revive her but was unable to. He carried her back to the campsite, she was still breathing but it was shallow, he didn't know what we wrong with her and after settling her back on her bedroll, he ran to the the radio in the cockpit to get an updated ETA on the shuttle's arrival. He hurriedly explained the situation to Sammie, who urged the shuttle faster and prepped the shuttle pilots and staff that there was an unknown medical emergency. They were ready when they disembarked the shuttle with a gurney and swarmed over Lisa literally pushing Rick aside as they worked on her. An IV drip was put in place and although they would not say out loud what was ailing her, Rick could hear words like organ failure and irregular heartbeat.

Rick helped the pilots hastily secure Skull-1 onboard, while the others stabilized Lisa as best they could for travel and the shuttle took off to return to the ship. The medical personnel did not say much and would not give Rick information regarding her situation, just letting him know whey were making her as comfortable as possible. They did let Rick hold her hand and Rick could hear the lead medic informing the medical team on board the SDF-1 to be ready to accept Commander Lisa Hayes, female, 26, with possible fatal radiation poisoning

Rick wanted to object their diagnosis, and started to argue with the medic on board but they threatened to restrain him if he did not settle down. Not wanting to leave Lisa's side, he shut his mouth and held tight to her hand. When the shuttle landed, a medical team was ready to take Lisa to the base hospital and Rick had tried to go with her in the ambulance that was sent but was barred as they needed to carry the doctors and nurses that was working on her. Rick was brought to the hospital for a check up in a jeep that didn't move as fast as the ambulance and the last glance he had was of her being whisked into the interior double doors of the hospital. He tried to find out what was happening to her, but no one would tell him anything. Rick heard the same thing over and over again, that he was neither next of kin or her husband and someone had already been contacted.

Rick paced the waiting room and didn't have to wait long for Captain Gloval to rush in with Claudia following behind him. Rick rushed up to the Captain to complain about the nurses not letting him in or giving him information about Lisa's condition but Gloval just held up his hand to stop Rick and said, "Not now Hunter, I will let you know once I understand the situation."

The staff nodded to the Captain and he was admitted behind the double doors to talk to the doctor about Lisa's condition.

Claudia went over to where Rick was standing, "What happened Rick, she was fine just a few days ago, wasn't she?"

Rick just stared at the double doors, hoping a miracle would happen and that Lisa would walk out on her own. He answered Claudia absent mindedly, and said, "I'm not sure Claudia, she just looked real bad this morning. I heard on the shuttle that they thought it was radiation sickness but how can that be? How can she be sick and not I? I just don't understand."

Neither did Claudia and the two waited for Gloval to return. He came out of the doors, looking grim, his cap pulled lower over his eyes than usual and Rick could see that he was carrying a handkerchief in one hand. He nodded to a small conference from near the nurses station and waited until Claudia and Rick were in the room before shutting the door. Settling heavily in one of the chairs, they waited for Gloval to speak and didn't have to wait long. "Commander Hayes...Lisa, is dying. The doctors don't know if they can save her but they are doing their best."

"What? How? I don't believe that, how could it happen, Lisa and I were together for the last week together, why am I not sick?" Rick was angry and didn't understnd how this could happen. "She reminded me everyday to take those damn pills, why didn't they work for her?" Rick just wanted to rage and picked up one of the chairs and threw it against the wall.

"Lt. Commander, Hunter," barked Captain Gloval,"calm down, you are not helping the situation any with your behavior. I understand you are upset as is Claudia and I. We just need to pray that she recovers."

Rick paced up and down the room, "Why her, why not me? We took those little pills, why is she so very sick. It's not fair."

It was Claudia who figured it, she knew how Lisa felt about Rick and made the connection with the pills. "Rick," she asked softly, "did you see Lisa take the pills?"

Rick wondered why Claudia asked, "Yes I did, she got them from the medical supplies on the Veritech and every day around lunch she'd remind me to take the pill. I've seen her take it." Rick realizing he still had possession of Lisa's white officer's jacket, patted the pockets til he found her pill box. He pulled it out and opened it and was surprised to see three pills inside similar to the anti radiation pills but a bit lighter in color.

Claudia looked at the pills and just said, "Ohh Lisa" and started crying. Through her tears she explained, "Those are birth control pills, all of us woman are issued them whether we take them or not. Rick, the standard Veritech comes with one treatment for radiation, five pills to be taken daily. There are usually two extra in the kit for just in case. Those are the ones Lisa took, she made sure you received the full treatment Rick."

Rick sat stunned, he felt sick to his stomach and wanted to throw up at the news. Why would she do such a thing, why didn't she tell him.

Captain Gloval laid a heavy hand on Rick's shoulder and said, "I don't know if a full treatment would have helped, the doctors believe she had already been exposed to some radiation while at Alaska Base before you rescued her Rick, I think she knew that and thought you would have a better chance if surviving than she did. I want you to get a thorough checkup to be sure. "

Gloval left the room and motioned Claudia to follow, he could hear them whispering in the hall and Claudia came back in. "Rick, the Captain wants you checked as soon as possible and then he wants you to get some rest. I'm going to stay here with Lisa, I'll let you know if there is any news."

"Why Claudia, why'd she do it, why sacrifice herself for me? I'm just a pilot, but Lisa, she's special, so strong and so smart, she can make a difference, not me..." Rick's words trailed off wishing things were different.

Claudia hugged him and held him for a few minutes before whispering softly, "it's simple really, Lisa loves you Rick."

* * *

Rick sat in that room for the longest time, going over the last few days and wondering what she had been thinking when he remembered that damn notebook. Realizing that Lisa must had known what was happening, he grabbed her jacket off the table and found the notebook in her right pocket. Staring at it as if it held all the secrets of the universe, he turned the cover and read the first page and found a message for him.

_Rick, if you are reading this, then I must assume that I did not survive. I know that you have must have a lot of questions and I don't think I will be able to answer them all but I am sure you are asking why? You still have so much to live for and even though you may doubt it, you still have someone on the SDF-1 that cares about you and would most likely be devastated if you did not survive. There was no guarantee that if we had split the treatment that it would have helped either of us much and I had to be sure that you survived, it wasn't a risk I was willing to take. I know what it's like to lose someone I care about in this war, and I didn't want anyone else to suffer though that loss like I did. I wrote about our time stranded on Earth, I hope that you will read them someday and remember me fondly and that maybe when you are a General or Admiral in the RDF, that when you write your memoirs you will have this to help jog your memory. Live well and be happy Rick, you deserve it. _

_With much love, Lisa Hayes_

At that, Rick was no longer able to hold back and Rick broke down, crying into Lisa's jacket, realizing how much he loved her and how different he would have lived these last days if he had known. He didn't know how long he stayed there but when he came out, a nurse ushered him into an exam room.

* * *

Author's note: Readers' choice, If you want,you can stop reading here and let this be the end of the story. I debated whether or not Lisa should survive or not especially since I normally do not write stories with tragic endings. However, if you don't like this outcome, please read on. Thank you, thank you so much for the reviews. I'm glad you're enjoying the story. Keep lettting me know hat you think!


	6. Chapter 6

Lisa could hear the soft whirring, beeping and whooshing of the machines. The sounds had roused her from her sleep but she was still too tired to open her eyes. She heard a chair scrape back and footsteps approach her bed.

"Lisa?" The voice called her name quietly, "You've been sleeping a long time, don't you think it's time to wake up?"

Lisa recognized Claudia's voice. She wanted to respond but couldn't move, every part of her hurt and other was a dull ache on the left side of her body. Seeing that Lisa wasn't waking, Claudia returned to her seat and kept watch over her friend. It had been five days since Lisa had been brought in almost to the brink of death and it was a miracle she was alive. The worry was that she might not wake and remain in her comatose state.

Claudia sighed, it was bad enough to lose Lisa to this but Rick was honestly no better. Physically, he was fine but he was obviously torturing himself with Lisa's decision. He stayed in his quarters, didn't socialize with others and didn't even want to fly. She tried to tell him that Lisa wouldn't want him to act like this, and deep down he knew it but felt helpless to do anything about it. Claudia knew that he just needed time and she prayed that Lisa woke soon, she didn't want to lose two more friends.

* * *

Lisa felt her eyes slowly starting to open. Everything was blurry as she tried to refocus her eyes. Her mouth was parched and she felt like she'd been hit by a car. Turning her head slightly to shield her eyes from the overhead lights, she noticed Claudia sleeping on a fold out bed that couldn't be too comfortable.

Tentatively, she tried calling out Claudia's name but her voice was weak due to unuse and seeing that she couldn't rouse her friend, she lifted her hand and pressed the call button on the hospital bed. The night nurse on duty came in to check and was surprised to find Lisa laying there with her eyes open.

Claudia had woken when the nurse entered the room and thinking that they were just checking on Lisa again, tried to ignore the nurse at first but when she said, "I'm going to get the doctor." and left the room, Claudia looked over to see that Lisa had woken from her sleep.

Getting up from the roll away bed, Claudia just smiled and said, "Well, you're finally awake. Seriously you do have more lives than a cat. Let this be the last one though OK, I don't think my heart can take much more."

Lisa smiled and weakly nodded her head in agreement. Claudia, walked over and poured Lisa some water and helped her to sit up in bed to drink it. Just a few sips was all Lisa could handle, and when Claudia put the glass down Lisa asked in a scratchy low voice, "How's Rick?"

"Hmm, mad, angry, confused? You pick Lisa, you're going to be apologizing to that poor man for the rest of your life after what you put him through."

There wasn't time to talk, the doctors came in with the nurses at that point and started to check over Lisa now that she was conscious. Claudia stayed and in a momentary lull in activity, she told Lisa, "I'm going to find Rick OK?"

Lisa nodded her head and Claudia went to call Rick about Lisa. Not finding Rick in his quarters, she walked to the other place he'd been known to haunt, the Observation Deck.

She saw him sitting with his head bowed down and holding a green notebook in his hand. It wasn't the first time she'd seen him with the notebook and wondered what it contained. Rick hearing footsteps approaching, looked up to see Claudia walking towards him. He waited for her to speak anticipating the bad news that she was going to impart, that Lisa had succumb and had passed on. It took him a few moments to register what Claudia was saying, he was in disbelief when he heard Claudia say, "Rick, Lisa's awake!"

* * *

Claudia came running back into Lisa's room carrying a toiletry bag. Putting it down on the table next to Lisa, Claudia opened it and pulled out a hair brush. "Rick's going to be here soon, we need to get you looking a little more presentable." Claudia helped Lisa brush her teeth, wash her face and Claudia brushed out Lisa's hair and loosely braided her long honey colored hair. Claudia applied some lip balm to Lisa's chapped lips hoping it was enough. She knew Rick didn't really care what Lisa looked like as long as she was alive but she was hoping that all his worrying meant something good was about to happen. There wasn't much she could do about the hospital gown but it probably didn't matter.

Hearing a knock on the door, Claudia opened it to find Rick standing there. Sensing the two would rather meet alone, Claudia excused herself and left to give the Captain an update on Lisa's condition. She knew he would want to come and see her as soon as possible.

As Claudia left, Lisa could see Rick standing in the doorway, his face drawn, haggard and unsmiling. She had been nervous and anxious to see him again, hoping he would understand why she did what she did. From the look on his face though, it didn't look like he'd forgiven her.

Rick enterd the room, but didn't say anything, his eyes never leaving hers. He put the bag he was carrying on the chair in the room, approached the bed and without asking, sat on it. Lisa seeing the emotions play on Rick's face, laid one of her hands on his and simply said, "I'm sorry."

At that point Rick exhaled and all the pain and misery he felt the last week came tumbling out. Being careful not to disturb the tubes Lisa had running into her arm, Rick grabbed her by the shoulders and pulled her into an embrace and held her. Lisa started to cry, his gentleness overwhelmed her and Lisa could feel Rick shaking, sobs coming from him. The two stayed that way for the longest time, just comforting one another.

Rick finally pulled back and rested his forehead on hers and said, "Why'd you do it Lisa? Did you think I would be happy to know that you gave up a chance at living for me? Did you think I would happy without you? You should have told me what was going on, not just handling it by yourself. I thought we were in it together, that we were partners. You should have told me!"

Lisa tried to explain in a pleading voice, knowing whatever she said wouldn't make a difference to Rick, "I undstand how you feel, but even under the same circumstances, I would make have made the same decision. You weren't reading the radiation levels from the Veritech, I was, and they were high, Rick. With early enough treatment, I knew that your chances of surviving would be almost 100%. Mine I wasn't too sure of, I had already been in the base exposed too long before you rescued me. Please don't get me wrong Rick, I loved the fact that you came for me but it was also my duty to ensure that you were going to be OK."

This was obviously the wrong thing to say to Rick, as he let go of Lisa's shoulders and stood from the bed in anger. "Duty, duty! Is that all you could think of when we were out there? Was this just fulfilling a part of that Hayes motto, duty and sacrifice?" Rick paced the room, angry at Lisa's words.

Lisa not being able to her seeing Rick so angry at her, pulled the coverlet off her legs and attempted to swing her legs to the floor. Rick noticing that Lisa was trying to get out of the bed, strode over to her and in an low, somewhat angry and commanding voice ordered her to remain where she was, "Don't you even dare try and get out of that bed Lisa, I know you're too weak and I'm not going to let you relapse just because you were being stubborn. I can't help but be mad, even furious with you but it doesn't mean I don't care about you." Rick helped her settle back in the bed and sat back down on it. Seeing how tired Lisa was, he felt bad for yelling at her, and told her that she should rest and that he would return later. Lisa wanted to protest but knew she needed to give Rick time to forgive her.

"Don't worry Lisa, I'll come back, before I go though, I got you something." Rick grabbed the bag that he left on the chair and pulled out a white stuffed animal dog, with silky ears and bright black eyes and placed it on her lap.

Lisa picked it up and cuddled it to her chest. "Rick thank you, it's so cute, I love it, I've always wanted a dog like this."

Rick smiled seeing Lisa hugging the stuffed animal and petting it like it was alive, "I know I read that notebook of yours. I didn't show it to anybody else, but I read the whole thing except for the personal letters you wrote."

Lisa wouldn't look Rick in the eye, embarrassed that he knew her feelings for him. Seeing he wasn't going to get a response from Lisa about the notebook, he started to leave when Lisa said, "I didn't do it out of duty Rick.."

Rick turned back around to look at her. Seeing there was no escape now and not wanting to hide it any longer, Lisa smiled and said, "I did it because I love you Rick, I have for a while now and honestly, I couldn't have lived with myself if something happened to you. I'm not telling you this because I think anything will change between us, I'm telling you because I don't want you to think I did it out of duty."

Rick walked slowly back to the bed and sat on it. Taking her hands in his, he brought them up to his face and caressed them with this cheek, lightly kissing each hand. Lisa held her breath, she couldn't believe that Rick was touching her so tenderly. Looking her in the eyes Rick leaned forward and softly kissed Lisa on the mouth and said to her quietly, "You don't know what I have been through these last few days, wondering if you would ever open your eyes. There is so much I want to say to you Lisa, but I want you to know that the thought of losing you devastated me. I wasn't sure that I could honor your wishes and go on. Losing you was just something I couldn't deal with. I love you Lisa and I want you to know that whatever happens next, we're going to face it, but we're going to face it together."

Lisa crying at Rick's declaration, threw her arms round his neck, "Oh Rick, I love you too, so much. I'm so sorry, I hope you can forgive me. "

Rick held her close to him, nuzzling her, he knew Lisa needed to rest and after a long moment, he finally pulled back and said, "I'm going to go Lisa, you rest and I'll be back in a few hours."

Lisa, not wanting him to leave, pleaded with him to stay arguing she would rest better with him there. Rick tried to protest but Lisa was insistent, made room on her bed for him and said, "Rick, please stay, you look enhausted yourself and I don't want to be away from you right now." Rick knowing what she meant as he felt the same way, agreed to stay until she fell asleep. He lay next to her like they did when they were stranded on Earth and wrapped his arm around her. Lisa turned into his heat, still clutching the stuffed animal Rick gave her and soon both were sound asleep.

They were discovered that way by Captain Global and Claudia when they entered the room silently to check on Lisa. Rick hearing them enter, tried to rise from the bed, but Global just waved him back down and said, "just watch over our girl Ok?"

Rick just nodded his head and returned to his place next to Lisa's side.

* * *

Lisa's recovery was a long and arduous process. It was a miracle that she was alive and it was only due to Zentraedi cloning technology and Dr. Lang that she had survived. Dr. Lang had early on started research and modification on Zentraedi cloning techniques once an alliance was formed with Breetai and when Captain Global informed him of Lisa's predicament, Lang had offered to do what he could to save Lisa. With help from Breetai's technicians, they were able to modify a cloning chamber to help repair Lisa's DNA. They were not able to do anything about the failed left kidney and had to remove the damaged organ that seemed to have been affected most by the radiation. Lang told Lisa during one of his meetings with her that if she had not taken those two pills at the beginning, there would have been no chance she would have made it alive back to the SDF-1. The research that Lang did and the use of Lisa as a test subject for those techniques, allowed this technology to help others affected with radiation poisoning as there were many survivors that were affected one way or another after Dolza's Rain.

All of this however, did not mean Lisa survived unscathed. She never quite gained back the strength she had before and while she was able to return to duty two months with a modified work schedule, Lang warned her that immune system was compromised and would not be as strong as before. Her beautiful hair, the color of summer wheat, also fell out within weeks of her rescue. Rick held her hand as Claudia shaved it off and he thought she looked just as beautiful as before.

While the Zenraedi and Dr. Lang felt confident that they repaired Lisa as best they could, they were unsure whether or not Lisa could bear children. Lisa hearing this had cried as having children was a dream of hers. She didn't tell Rick about it immediately, instead started to pick little fights with him and tried to convince him to try and find someone "whole" to be with. It took a very frustrated and very patient Rick to convince Lisa in the end that it was her that he loved and no other and that he was staying by her side through thick and thin. He cared for her though her recovery process and even moved in with her to help care for her when she was released from the hospital. During this time, Rick also returned to duty and his patrols sometimes took him away from Lisa for days. Although they slept together in the same bed, their relationship had not yet progressed to true intimacy.

Frustrated that Rick still treated her like an invalid, Lisa knew she had to take matters in her own hands if she really wanted them to move forward and have a normal loving relationship. She knew he wasn't unaffected by her but he never seemed to take it further than holding her and kissing her and she was definitely ready for more. She waited until Rick returned from a long day of patrolling and knew that he would sleep until she returned from her shift. He would always wake when she returned and they would talk about their day while she got ready for bed and joined him in bed. He was always worried about her being cold and would immediately pull her into his warmth and wrap a strong arm around her anchoring her to him, almost as if he was scared she would disappear.

Lisa knew he would think something was suspicious if she changed and wore fancy lingerie to bed and so opted to wear a cute short and tank set to bed that she could justify wearing with the warmer weather. She came out the bathroom, wearing a short cotton robe over the short set, which she casually removed and tossed to the bottom of the bed. She could feel Rick's eyes watching her and acted like nothing was different from their routine. She got into bed and waited for Rick to pull her close. She silently giggled when Rick asked in a somewhat strangled voice, "don't you think you might get a bit cold in that Lisa, maybe you should uh, put on a bit more."

"Nonsense Rick, it's hot out there and you know that the air conditoners aren't working that well and that they start to shut off at night. Anyway, I have you to keep me warm." With that said Lisa waited for Rick to spoon her as he usually did. She could hear a frustrated low sigh come from him and as he lay his arm around her, Lisa pressed her backside firmly against him, eliciting a physical response from him. Rick pulled a bit away from her and shifted away from her so that his arousal was not so apparent. Lisa smiled again and stretched her body a bit causing Rick's arm to brush against her breasts. He pulled away from her like it burned, "Lisa, can you quite moving around?"

Lisa turned to Rick with a hurt look on her face and he felt bad but she was making him excited. It had been harder and harder for him to keep his hands off of her and tonight she was making it damn near impossible. Her skin always felt so silky smooth after she showered and her hair barely grown out was soft as feathers. He had nearly jumped out of his skin when she took off her robe, revealing her tight t shirt and tiny pair of cotton shorts. How in heaven's name could that be considered sleepwear?

Lisa still pouting a bit asked him what the matter was and he mumbled, "nothing, it's just a little warm, that's all." Lisa leaned over him, almost on top of him and watched as Rick tried to look everywhere but at her breasts. Laughing a bit, Lisa decided to quit teasing Rick and leaned forward and kissed Rick in a way that gave him no doubts about what she wanted. Groaning he tried to hold back and voiced concern that maybe she wasn't well enough yet. Lisa, who felt perfectly fine, and frustrated by his cautiousness, pulled away from Rick and pulled the T-shirt up over her head leaving her bare to his eyes. Rick's resolve to give Lisa enough time to recover flew out the door and the two found paradise in one another's arms.

* * *

It was a few years later before the couple decided to formally committ themselves to one another, not because of lack of commitment, but more the lack of time. Both were rising stars in the RDF and spent so much time working to ensure humanity's survival that they didn't feel that they needed to formalize what was already in their hearts. They were constantly questioned by the media and their friends about when they were going to get married, but it was a more personal reason that they had not shared with anyone yet that caused then to stand in front of over 200 people and media cameras to say their vows. Everyone said that Lisa had a special glow about her that day and nine months later to that day, the Hunters were blessed with a beautiful baby boy. Dr. Lang monitored Lisa and the baby for any concerns throughout her pregnancy and was pleased that they both came through with flying colors.

It wasn't always so easy though, Lisa and Rick suffered through two miscarriages after that and it wasn't until little Roy was almost seven years old that he was joined by a little sister Catherine, and another three years with Henry. Through it all, Rick and Lisa turned to one another for comfort, support and love. As for the green notebook, Rick and Lisa kept it safely tucked away with their prized posessions. They used it as a constant reminder to never forgot how short life was and Lisa especially, felt incredibly lucky that she was given a second chance at life and love.

~Finis

* * *

Thank you, Miriam, FanAnime97, RobotechFan, Pjean, Hapiflower (I like fluff too!), jag389, McLaughlin, queequeg1013, AndrewJameswilliams. (I love your story wish I had the patience to write like you), Julie H and any guests that wrote a review. I'm really glad you liked this story and wanted Lisa to survive! I hope the ending was satisfactory. Was thinking of adding in a bonus chapter recounting Rick's meeting with Minmei, but figured I'd keep this Rick and Lisa centric as much as possible.

I also hope to see more writings from others... please, anything would be great, really... :-)


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